| Patrick Seale | |
| Birth Date: | 7 May 1930 |
| Birth Place: | Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom |
| Death Place: | London, England, United Kingdom |
| Nationality: | British |
| Occupation: | Journalist |
| Spouse: | Lamorna Heath (1971 - her death, 1978) Rana Kabbani (1985 -his death, 2014) |
Patrick Abram Seale (7 May 1930 - 11 April 2014) was a British journalist[1] and author who specialised in the Middle East. A former correspondent for The Observer, he interviewed many Middle Eastern leaders and personalities. Seale was also a literary agent and art dealer.
Patrick Abram Seale[2] was a Belfast-born journalist.[1] His father was Morris Siegel Seale (1896–1993), the Arabist and theologian, who was a Russian Jewish convert to Presbyterianism and Christian missionary in Syria, where Patrick spent most of his first 14 years. Seale's mother was Reine Attal, a Tunisian-Italian midwife.[3] [4] Seale attended Balliol and St Antony's College, Oxford, where he specialised in Middle Eastern history.[5] He obtained his D.Litt. at Oxford University. His sister was the fashion designer Thea Porter.
His journalistic experience includes six years with Reuters, mainly as a financial journalist, and over twelve with The Observer, covering the Middle East, Africa, and India.
Based in France, Seale was syndicated by Agence Global.[6] His columns appeared in most major newspapers around the world, and were carried weekly by several newspapers, including Al-Hayat (London), Al-Ittihad (Abu Dhabi), The Daily Star (Beirut), The Saudi Gazette (Jeddah) and Gulf News (Dubai).
Seale married twice. First to Lamorna Heath in 1971 (died 1978) by whom he had a child, Orlando. His second wife, the writer and broadcaster Rana Kabbani, was the mother of his younger children, journalist Alexander Seale and writer and translator Yasmine Seale.[7]
Patrick Seale died aged 83 on 11 April 2014 in London from brain cancer.[7]
Seale authored numerous books,[8] including: